2.27.2006

Barcelona

This weekend I saw Teshigahara’s 1984 study of Antonio Gaudi. The film is 72 minutes of stunning brilliance. There are about two sentences worth of narration in the whole piece. The rest is incredibly detailed shots of a million different aspects of Gaudi's most famous works. The soundtrack was perfect... lots of creepy spaced out stuff balanced by whimsical little ditties. Plus, I saw the film at BAM, which is always a pleasure.

NOTE TO POTENTIAL VIEWER: When seeing a film with no dialog and subtle musical score, bring a big fucking baseball bat with you. The theater was filled with coughers, hummers, seat shifters, snugglers, heavy breathers, foot tappers, and one giant cock who happened to sit behind me who not once, but twice said in normal conversational volume... "It's melted wax time!". I can only assume that he was referring to the intricate detail of the facade of Gaudi's Sagrada Familia. Next time he goes to the movies, he should decide not to go after all.

The movie made me think a lot about the trip I took to Barcelona last spring. It also seemed like a good excuse to post some of the snapshots I took on the trip.

P.S. Barcelona ain't all about architecture... check out this, this, and this.

2.25.2006

Hommage Olympique

In homage to the current Olympic games in Torino I'm featuring these two smash hits from Olympics past. In order to not assign preference to the songs, I'm going to write about them in chronological order... I'll let you be the judge as to which is the better song.

Marche des Athlètes #3 - André Mathieu

The 1976 Montreal Olympics are probably known most for the star of the games, fourteen-year-old Romanian gymnast, Nadia Comaneci. However, I think the real star of the games is the architecture of Le Stade Olympique. I mean, come on, it looks like an alien spacecraft, plus it has an observation deck... and I love me some observation decks!

I recently received the official soundtrack of the 1976 Montreal games from a friend of mine. Most of the tracks are standard pomp for the various opening and closing ceremonies. There is, however, one standout track that I'm featuring here. March of the Athletes #3 is a total anomaly to the rest of the tracks on the album. It sounds like it belongs in a blaxploitation film rather than in Olympic ceremonies... did Shaft participate in the '76 games??? I can't recall.

Anyhow, give it a listen: File removed... email me if you want to give it a listen.

Reach Out - Giorgio Moroder feat. Paul Engemann

I was in Europe on a family vacation during the '84 LA games. I have a really vivid memory of watching Mary Lou Retton win gymnastic gold while reading a MAD Magazine parody of Gremlins in a hotel in Frankfurt. I wonder what happens if you get Mary Lou wet???....

The main thing I have to say about Reach Out (the official theme for track and field events) is... WHAT THE FUCK, GIORGIO?! Mr. Moroder was gettin' paid for this track, that's for sure. Where's the brilliance of The Chase and Love To Love You Baby??? I was talking to my man about this track and we decided that it could be the closing credits track for just about any early to mid-eighties summer camp movie... or any feel good teen movie of the era. And, Mr. Engemann, there's a reason that I couldn't find a link for you anywhere online... your vocals pretty much bite! Seriously, the only reference I could find for Paul Engemann was for the Special Olympic theme song, "Push it to the Limit", that was featured in the Special Olympic episode of South Park.

Now that I have trashed this track, give it a listen: File removed... email me if you want to give it a listen.

2.24.2006

Gay Type Thang - Jon Sugar

This track is a stroke of pure genius. Originally recorded in 1981 and then rerecorded in 1984. Jon Sugar (of San Francisco's Gay Artists and Writers Kollective - G.A.W.K.) gives us 80's homo realness with a social bent. Gay Type Thang was never released but got some air play on local SF radio back in the day... download the track below, and spread the word!

2.22.2006

DMC 145 - 1994 Melody of Love (Junior Vasquez Mix)

This has to be one of my top ten favorite songs ever. The song (not this mix) was the Billboard #1 dance hit of 1994. It's one of those songs I can't get enough of. I don't have a lot of support on this -- I play it for friends thinking that they will see the pure genius of it, but I rarely get the response I'm hoping for. Who cares though... fuck all y'all!

Perhaps one of the reasons that I want everyone to love listening to this record as much as I do is that I paid $90 for it. I paid $90 for it when I was broke as shit! I paid $90 for it and when I got the record I found that there was a flaw in the intro of the song (you'll hear it if you listen to the link below). Not only did I pay $90 for it, but I paid an additional $20 to Thomas Cook to get an international money order to pay the eBay seller in the Netherlands (this was 1998, pre-PayPal). Okay, so I'm a tool... I paid $110 for the friggin' flawed record.

Despite all the above, I still get chills each and every time I hear Donna's into... she's all talking about how she never knew this and that about love... it's really beautiful... then the giant SKIP SKIP of the record flaw comes in and my chills are replaced with anger.

Another reason that most of my friends don't like this song is that they don't get the Junior Vasquez thing. I was a complete and total Juniorphile in the mid 1990's, as were all of my friends. This song brings me to a time and place.. although I'm not sure what that time and place is... my memories of that era in my life are a bit... umm... cloudy. But as I said before, fuck all y'all... and... "Junior! One more, PLEASE!!"

2.20.2006

Rollers in my hair

Loleatta Holloway provides the vocals on The Queen's Anthem... a departure from the luscious disco-diva vocals of her earlier work. The classic bitch track question, "Do you want me to come downstairs with rollers in my hair?" provides endless opportunity for cutting up and carrying on.

DISCLAIMER Any MP3 files that are posted to this site are only offered for a limited time. Most of the music is out of print or hard to obtain. If you can find it, buy it! If you have issue with any of the music posted on this site, please let me know and I will remove it.